Transcript of “Mal Comune Mezzo Gaudio”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, this is Anthony Gaudio from Tallahassee, Florida.
Hi, Anthony. Welcome to the program.
Hi, Anthony.
I was calling because I am always trying to improve my Italian, and I’ve come across an Italian proverb that caught my attention.
And that Italian proverb is, mal cam une mezzo Gaudio.
And the reason it caught my attention is that has my last name in it.
And it intrigued me. I kind of looked it up and it resembles the English proverb, troubled shares are troubled halved, although the literal translation is quite a bit different.
Yeah, let’s hear that expression again.
Mal comune mezzo gaudio.
Which word is your last name? Mezzo comune?
No, Gaudio.
Oh, yeah, okay.
Which is, you know, it means joy, but it’s not the Italian word gioia, which is, you know, personal joy.
It’s kind of like root joy or joy of the community is what I have been told by Italian scholars.
Yeah, the mezzo is like half or middle, like a mezzo soprano is between a soprano and a contralto.
And the Gaudio, your last name is a really wonderful word, goes all the way back to Latin.
And, you know, there’s that old drinking song that’s the official song of a lot of schools, Gaudiamus Egator.
You know, that means, you know, that one, let us live then and be glad.
Yeah. Yeah. But but it’s a beautiful sentiment, Malcomune Mezzo Gaudio.
And, you know, there have been lots of different ways to express that sentiment.
One of my favorites goes back to ancient Rome and ancient Greece.
There’s an expression that translates from both of those languages as either a common shipwreck is a comfort to all or, you know, to be shipwrecked together is a relief for everybody or a comfort to everybody.
Or I’ve even seen those translated as society in shipwreck is a comfort to all.
So it’s like, you know, at least we’re all in this together.
Well, I had never heard the English version of it.
But shortly after I came across this Italian version, the woman who does the cooking on Downton Abbey said it.
Oh, really?
I said, oh, my goodness.
Yeah.
She said the troubled chair, this troubled app.
Oh, she didn’t say it in Italian.
No, no, no, no.
She said it.
That was the first time I had ever heard the English version of it was that.
And it was kind of surprising to me.
But, you know, Gaudio is actually an uncommon conome or last name in Italy.
And it probably goes back to Latin times, Roman times.
Sure, sure.
Yeah, Gaudium in Latin.
Well, fantastic, Anthony. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.
And good luck on your Italian classes. It sounds like you’re making good progress.
Well, you know, I’ve been studying it for years.
And in Italy, my family makes fun of my American accent and my poor choice of tenses.
But I soldier on.
Yes, that’s the attitude. Very good. Take care now and be well.
All right. Thank you very much.
Bye-bye.
Okay.
